Advantageous Love
by Quartzy and Sue
Summary: Sometimes in the course of true love both parties gain from the other. Courtney/Duncan set a few years after TDI. Rating T just to be safe, could probably be K . For Zutaralover101's TDI camp challenge.


**A/N: Here is my one-shot for Zutara's TDI RP. It is a Courtney/Duncan one-shot . Quick warning there are some small spoilers about TDI and the play _And Then There Were None_ by Agatha Christie.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own the TDI characters or the play _And Then There Were None _**

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Duncan walked slowly down the suburban street. He glanced down at his watch, 6:45. He was ten minutes late. Perfect. A flurry of fallen leaves flew past, carried by a seasonal breeze as he turned the corner. The side walk soon ended and became a parking lot; it was a tad more packed than normal. Several parents were walking with their children to the front doors of the rather large high school spanning the distance in front of them. The school was a story or two high with a large stadium to the left and a few tennis courts to the right, Duncan sighed, this was definitely the place. Then his gaze floated across to the front of the school and landed on her, he smirked.

Standing under Duncan's watchful gaze the girl gave a shiver and check her watch then crossed her arms in front of her and frowned. With a smirk Duncan walked slowly up to the school, he walked just behind a rather large family and snuck behind the girl when she was looking out over the parking lot.

Duncan bent slightly so he was next to her ear "hey Princess, waiting for someone?"

The girl jumped about a foot in the air then spun around glaring hard as her eyes focused on Duncan's smirking face "Duncan! You cretin, why'd you sneak up on me?" Courtney demanded.

Duncan's smirk grew "cretin, that's a new one" Courtney glared harder and he put his hands up defensively "it was just a joke Princess, take it easy. I didn't know you scared that easy."

Courtney strained up, Duncan was learning how to push her buttons, all he had to do was make a few wise cracks to get her flustered and forget why she was mad in the first place.

"I was not scared," Courtney lied then paused and countered "I was just annoyed because you were late."

Damnit. Duncan recovered "well I'm here now aren't I? Are we going inside or are we just going to stand here and miss the dork show?" he asked trying to get the upper hand again.

Courtney's eyebrows narrowed "it's a play, Duncan. A good one too" she paused thinking then gave a grin that chased Duncan's confident smirk right off his face "it's about these people who slowly get killed off, one by one."

Duncan raised an eyebrow "seriously?"

Courtney nodded. "Then what are we doing out here still?" he put an arm around her shoulders and started towards the school. Courtney blushed and frowned but let him keep his arm there. They went inside and bought tickets then walked over to the theater door.

"Four bucks each for a lame high school show, it's ridiculous" Duncan complained shaking his now empty wallet.

"It's your own fault" Courtney said "I told you I could buy my own ticket" her tone was firm but she couldn't keep the corners of her mouth from turning up "tell you what, since you got tickets I'll buy snacks during the intermission."

Duncan smiled "now that's a deal I can live with" he said. Courtney picked out seats in the middle of the fifth row.

"Why will we get wet if we sit in the first row?" Duncan joked.

Courtney considered this "I don't know, possibly. I just thought the view would be better.

Duncan didn't have time to think of a funny comeback as the lights went down and the curtain came up. The first act of the show was interesting enough; to Courtney anyway, Duncan seemed determined to be bored. His opinion changed a bit in the last scene when one of the characters, an obnoxious rich boy, started choking then keeled over dead. Shortly after the lights went dark and the curtains fell and the crowd moved out of the theater for the intermission.

"I'll bet you ten bucks that the butler did it" Duncan said confidently as he and Courtney strolled towards the snack table.

Courtney chuckled "Duncan, I know who did it; I've seen the play before."

"So it wasn't the butler" Duncan mused. He grabbed a few candy bars and a big piece of cake from the snack table.

"I never said that" Courtney said grabbing a bottle of water and a cookie then looked at what Duncan had picked "are you really going to eat all that?"

He glanced at his snacks and shrugged "I don't know if it really matters, you're buying Princess" he said smirking.

Courtney's mouth opened and shut then she snarled "figures, first thing you do is take advantage of my generosity."

He shrugged again as Courtney fumbled for her wallet "I don't see it as taking advantage of your generosity."

Courtney handed a bill to the cashier "then what do you see it as?" she asked.

"Exploiting it" Duncan stated with a smirk then grabbed his food and headed back to the theater.

"That's practically the same thing" Courtney started rounding on the spot where Duncan had once stood "Duncan? Uhg! That's the last time I take him anywhere" she muttered as she walked back to the theater. She found Duncan in his seat looking smug, she sat frowning "that was not cool Duncan, if you were planning to get all that stuff the whole time you should have paid for yourself."

He shrugged "like I said, I'm out of money."

Courtney scoffed "I find it hard to believe you only had eight bucks on you, you told me just this morning that you got a big raise and an advance on your salary. Did you spend it all already?" she asked snidely.

Duncan paused and for a second seemed to loose his composure, one of his hands suddenly went to the pocket inside his jacket then he paused as if realizing what he was doing and smirked "actually I did spend it already."

"On what dare I ask?" Courtney inquired with a raised eyebrow "I'd have thought you would put it with the rest of your "secret stash"". For the last few months Duncan had been taking her on rather cheap dates, not that she was complaining she loved the picnics and forest hikes but Duncan had seemed to have been saving up cash for a while, what would he spend splurge on now?

He paused again then gave an almost guilty smile "I actually spent the whole stash."

Courtney's second eyebrow joined the first "really? On what some new hot rod or something like that?"

"Something like that" he said with a vague nod his hand still in his pocket fumbling with something.

"Will I get to see this something?" Courtney asked, now she was curious, what was in his pocket, a hot rod couldn't fit in there….. but maybe the keys could….. but it could be something else.

He paused thinking "well, maybe…." He was interrupted as the lights started to go down, Duncan smirked "I'll show you later" he said pulling his empty hand out of his pocket. The rest of the play went smooth enough, there was one awkward pause but nothing too bad. As the lights went down the crowd burst into applause, Duncan muttered something obnoxious but clapped anyway. The crowd slowly issued out of the theater, many audience members went to talk to the cast all of whom were standing out in the hallway. Courtney and Duncan made their way around these large packs of people and out the doors into the moonlit night.

Neither of them had driven so Duncan offered to walk Courtney home, the previous year this would have been impossible but Courtney had moved out of her parents house and no longer had to deal with them spying on her for "her own good".

"So how'd you like the play?" Courtney asked breaking the silence.

Duncan shrugged "it was okay, pretty good considering it was a high school play."

Courtney smiled "so did you see the end coming, I mean were you surprised when you found out who did it?"

Duncan shrugged again "I guess so, I still think the butler did it."

Courtney stopped for a second then kept walking "but the butler died."

"Yeah, so did the judge" Duncan countered.

"But he didn't really die, it was a set up, he said so himself."

"Yeah, I still don't buy it" Duncan said stubbornly.

Courtney stared at him "you are so weird, anyway which character was your favorite?"

"Tough one, I guess the main guy, Captain Lombard and maybe Blore, you?"

"I guess Vera and Lombard" Courtney answered then added "Lombard and the Doctor were a tad sexist though."

Duncan nodded in agreement then chuckled "you have a point but what about that line at the end "thank god women can't shoot straight" I thought that was funny."

"That is because you are a guy and a pig" Courtney countered.

Duncan shrugged "fine, fine, no need to lecture" there was a moment of silence before Duncan spoke again "so what did you think of the end?"

"Well, I think it was kind of cheesy but it really was sweet" Courtney admitted. Duncan stifled a laugh "What?"

"Nothing" Duncan said quickly a trace of laughter still on his face "so have you heard from any of the others lately?" he asked changing the subject.

Courtney nodded "yeah I have actually. Bridgette and Geoff have finally set a date for their wedding and Trent apparently just popped the question to Gwen last week. She said yes of course."

Duncan smirked "I kinda figured she would."

"Izzy and Owen got back together again but I think it's for real this time, also Owen still has some of his TDI winnings left, I have no idea how. Leshawna and Harold were still together last time I checked. Heather's still doing community service but apparently she's getting some help from her new beau."

Duncan's eyebrow raised "really? Who's the lucky guy?"

Courtney smiled "that's the thing, she hooked up with DJ."

Duncan chuckled "poor guy, knew he was too nice for his own good."

Courtney nodded "I suppose, anyway, Cody and Beth hooked up a while ago and Katie and Sadie are still attached at the hip and going to a design school in New York."

"I wonder if the Big Apple can handle the two of them" Duncan mused. Courtney giggled then continued "Noah, Cody and Beth are trying to get PhDs but everyone else is moving on to jobs and such."

"Everyone but us" Duncan murmured.

"Yeah I guess so, but I still have a year left to get my teaching license and you're still working towards your physics degree" Courtney reminded him.

He nodded "yeah, feel a bit left out though, everyone else is moving on in the world leaving just two little campers all on our own….." he trailed off and his pace slowed a bit.

Courtney stared at him for a minute then remembered "Duncan, you were going to show me what you spent your cash stash on weren't you?"

Duncan paused then his eyes lit up "oh yeah I was, wasn't I?" he paused looking around and smirked "about time we almost passed your place."

Courtney looked and sure enough they were right in front of her house she looked back at Duncan "okay then show me."

Duncan sighed and stepped in front of her and asked "before I do can you remind me, what you thought of the last line of the play?"

Courtney looked at him "I thought it was sweet, a tad cheesy but sweet."

"Do you like cheesy things?" Duncan asked seriously.

"I guess so, sometimes it can be sweet" she said with a shrug.

A genuine smile appeared on Duncan's face "good, then you'll love this" he said reaching into his pocket. Courtney felt herself getting excited she was finally going to see what he had been saving up for, what had been so important that he'd been working double shifts after he got out of school, what had been-wait why was he kneeling down?

Courtney started; Duncan was indeed down on one knee holding up a small black box. She gasped as he flipped the lid open. Inside was a diamond ring, it was beautiful, a ring of light blue and pink diamonds surrounding a bigger white one on a silver band.

"Courtney Davis, my princess, will you marry me?" Duncan asked.

A huge smile came to Courtney's face and she found herself temporarily speechless. She nodded and threw her arms around Duncan. He wrapped his arms around her waist and stood up supporting her. "I'll take that as a yes" he said happily and kissed her hard. Courtney smiled against his lips and locked her arms around him. They slowly pulled apart but Courtney kept her arms around him as she was still a bit dizzy. She admitted this and Duncan smirked "well I'd better make sure my princess makes it home safely then" he scooped her up bridal style and started up the steps to Courtney's house.

She gave him a fake annoyed look "you're just taking advantage of the fact that I can't walk right now."

Duncan smiled and kissed her forehead then replied "that's the point isn't it?"

Courtney smirked nuzzled her head into his shoulder finding it cute that after years he still turned slightly pink "exactly."

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**A/N: I know this is kind of really long, especially compared to the other one-shots for the challenge but I could not help it.**


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